Amazon has confirmed “limited advertisements” will begin to appearing within its Prime Video streaming service from February 5th in the UK.
UK Prime subscribers will be able to continue to use the service without seeing adverts, but will need to pay an additional £2.99 to go ad-free, Amazon said.
The switch sees the tech giant follow in the footsteps of rival streaming giants by introducing adverts and additional ad-free subscriptions in order to generate more cash.
In an email to Prime members, Amazon said the change will “allow us to continue investing in compelling content and keep increasing that investment over a long period of time”.
It said it aims to have “meaningfully fewer ads than ad-supported TV channels and other streaming TV providers”.
Earlier this year, the tech giant confirmed it would begin rolling out advertising on Prime Video in a number of countries, including the UK, US, Germany, Canada and others.
Advertising will begin appearing for users in the US from January 29th.
The company confirmed users are not required to take any action before the change kicks in, and there would be no change to the current price of a user’s membership – unless they choose to sign up for the ad-free option.
Amazon Prime currently costs £8.99 a month in the UK for services including next-day and same-day delivery on millions of items on the marketplace, advert-free listening on its music streaming platform, and access to original TV series and films on Prime Video. Amazon said that price will not be changing in 2024.
